maybe, just maybe
by paperbagface
Summary: SasuSaku. AU. Maybe, just maybe, I might really love you. And maybe, just maybe, we were meant for each other.


I don't know what you did,  
But you got me to fall for you.  
And maybe, just maybe,  
I might really love you.

-

-

**maybe, just maybe  
**by: paperbagface

_Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.  
The lyrics "I don't know what you did, but you got me to fall for you" are from the song "Two Weeks In Hawaii" by Hellogoodbye. Thanks to __**Mariegurl **__to suggesting the song! _

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I hated Daddy's job. One that required moving every few years, one that required me to leave behind old friends and hope that I'd make new ones. Of course there was no alternative for me; my mother left us when I was only five, so there was no way that I could choose a spot and pick one. Daddy had to take me along, whether I liked it or not, and I knew that he didn't want to move either. Once we'd get settled in and feel a part of our new community, he'd get a new commission, and we'd be packing our bags and moving out again.

This time is no different. He promised me that this should be the last move, because he's been commissioned in the capital city of the country, Konoha. It's a bustling city of something like organized chaos, as if Konoha was a parallel world to some New York. And so I stood in front of my new school – Konoha University – in my uncomfortable uniform and a determined look on my eyes. There was no way I'd let people defeat me here; I've moved so many times that the nerves of meeting new people and fitting in are long gone. I'm a junior in university anyway, one year away from starting a new life; petty opinions didn't really matter to me anymore.

I take a deep breath, and enter the warm hallways of the school, making my way to the principal's office. I hope Konoha's ready for me.

-

-

Sasuke's eyes find her immediately. He nudges his best friend, Naruto, in the ribs as a sign to shut up, because there's something about the new girl that mesmerizes him. Maybe it's her weird, pastel-pink hair that's too light and natural-looking to be dyed, or maybe it's her bright eyes that show no sign of loneliness as she jams out to her iPod while typing away on her laptop on a bench in the park.

He has no idea what compels him to, but he begins walking towards her. His mind is screaming murder to turn around and head to the library where he was supposed to go, because there was no time to meet some strange girl that just somehow caught Sasuke's attention. New beginnings weren't accepted in Sasuke's lifestyle; he was strictly one to follow his casual routine to get through university and make a living. But something in his heart tells him that maybe, just maybe, this new beginning will be worth it, that maybe, just maybe, this detour from his casual routine will lead to something more. Naruto, too, must be surprised at Sasuke's immediate turn, but approves. He knows that Sasuke needs something else in his life, other than studying, studying, studying to surpass his older brother. And so Naruto stays behind to watch the scene unfold, because it's time for Sasuke to take off the training wheels and experience the world without them.

Emerald clashes with onyx when she looks up to meet the eyes of the most beautiful stranger she has ever met. She pulls the earphones out of her ears, her eyes wide with surprise. Her heart beats against her chest when she sees something in Sasuke's eyes, and she feels her blood rush with adrenaline and butterflies erupt in her stomach.

"Hi," he finally says.

She smiles, and offers a hand. Her hand is warm, Sasuke thinks as they shake hands. He wonders why her hand is so warm, why her smile is pretty, and why she's so uniquely beautiful regardless of her interesting features. He wonders why he's lost in his own world, why he hasn't left yet.

"I'm Sakura," she offers, breaking through his reverie.

"Sasuke," he says. "You're new here, aren't you?"

Sakura smiles again, and nods.

"Yeah."

Sasuke thinks for a few moments, before shoving his hands in his pockets. A habit of his that is some sort of escape mechanism for him. Something he just does whenever he feels nice. There was just something wrong today, he bitterly muses to himself. What is he doing? Why isn't he at the library studying like he usually should? Why didn't he notice Naruto didn't accompany him? The next words that come from his mouth throw his mind into more chaos.

"I'll show you around?" He offers.

Sakura's heart beats harder and faster against her chest at the offer. And when she shuts off her laptop and places it in her messenger bag, she thinks that maybe, just maybe, being a new student isn't so bad after all.

-

-

Sasuke realizes that Sakura's chatter nearly rivals Naruto in the fact that it is incessant. The two never stop talking, nor do they ever realize that they're babbling. He is sitting across her in the university's café, taking a sip of his hot tea, as he listens to her talk about virtually everything – how the dorms were too cold, how her coffee had too much cream, how the sun felt nice on her skin, everything. And as he listens to her never-ending chatter, he realizes that maybe, just maybe, he doesn't mind.

As he stares into her animated eyes and listens to her every word, he wonders what in the world she did to him. Here he is, listening to chatter that could rival maniacal, without a care, listening for all its worth and adding his opinion whenever it is needed. What did she do to him? What made her mesmerizing to him? And the sad thing is that he knows she did nothing at all; he was the one that initiated their meeting, the one who was compelled by her from the start, the one who saw her through crowds of people as if she was the only one.

"Sasuke, do you know what love is?"

Her recent question catches him off guard. He finds in her eyes a new light, and that perhaps, she is waiting for his answer. Sakura, on the other hand, is anxious to hear his answer. Did he feel what she felt? That annoying attraction in her chest, the annoying, giddy feelings that erupt inside her whenever he looks at her? Does he ... love her too?

Her lips form a small, regretful smile when he doesn't answer. She takes a sip of her hot coffee, glad that warmth can still erupt within her, and turns her eyes away. The world outside of the café seems more promising than a conversation that can make her or break her.

"Yeah," he finally says, surprising her.

She gazes at him once more, her heart skipping millions of beats when he offers a rare, tiny smile.

"I do."

Even though his not-really-confession makes his heart feel warm and fuzzy, he inwardly condemns himself. He just doomed himself to promises he might not be able to make, actions he might not be able to take. But when she gives him her most beautiful smile, her eyes bright with life and new beginnings, maybe, just maybe, it'll be worth it.

-

-

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," she regretfully says.

Tears are rolling down her cheeks, and Sasuke's heart breaks. Everything in her room is gone, save for a few suitcases by her bare bed. She holds her face in her hands as she sobs and cries, and she wonders why she couldn't tell him earlier. Maybe she couldn't tell him because she loved him, or maybe she couldn't tell him because she just couldn't! Maybe she didn't want to be the heartbreaker, because in reality, she wanted to be with Sasuke forever. She wanted to experience the Something More they never actually began, because both were too caught up in their lives and education and enjoying being best friends to ever try for some relationship.

"What?" He finally asks, slumping against her doorframe, his eyes wide.

He couldn't believe it. He allowed himself to fall for her, allowed himself to open up to her, allowed himself to live, and now everything is leaving without a second thought. Without a single thought. His heart bites against his chest in pain, and he can feel bitter tears forming at his eyes.

"Daddy got a new job, and he can't afford to pay more tuition," she brokenly explains between sobs. "So I leave the end of the term. Tomorrow."

He feels no strength within him. How could she have not told him? Why did she hide it from him? Millions of questions run through his brain, his mind thrown into chaos as his heart continues to bite against his chest in pain. She did nothing to him, she asked for nothing from him, but he gave her everything. He –

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," she cries.

Her heart hurts more than it ever has. She doesn't want to leave someone who helped her from day one, the one who caught her eye and held her heart ever since. She doesn't want to. She can't.

"I'm asking as a friend, Sasuke," she says, wiping away her tears. She wished he could wipe away her tears. Wished that before she had to leave to who-knows-where and never come back, he could show that he did know what it means to love. She wants to be selfish and make him say it, make him show her, even though she can feel it in his gazes, in his random little smiles, in his rare gestures of affection. "I'm asking you to not find me."

He doesn't say anything, and she quickly leaves her room. He doesn't run after her.

And when he sees her leaving with her suitcases from his dormitory window, he punches his wall with all he has, because something in his heart tells him to follow her, but he can't. When Naruto sees the wall in their dorm, he sighs and says nothing. Maybe, just maybe, Sasuke should have followed his instincts one more time.

-

-

"Sasuke, what the hell are you doing? Our break ends in three days, and you decide to take a fucking vacation now?"

Sasuke is throwing any clothes he can find in his suitcase, sure to throw in his bathroom essentials too, and when Naruto enters their room, it is a mess.

Since Sakura's departure, Sasuke has been a mess himself. His hair unruly, dark bags under his eyes, he occasionally went with Naruto to a bar to drink away his sorrows, to get his mind so drunk there was no room to think of Sakura and how she wasn't where she belonged.

Naruto sighs, but approves of Sasuke's decision. The Uchiha needed to get himself together, anyway. He was getting sick of dragging Sasuke's drunk, sorry ass back to the dorms after he drunk himself to sleep. When Sasuke finishes packing and shoves his cell-phone in his pocket, Naruto blocks the door, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"Do you at least have a plan? Some idea where she is?"

"No," Sasuke says. "But I need to go find her."

"What are you going to do when you do find her?"

Sasuke sighs and looks away.

"Things I should've done _weeks_ ago."

And so Naruto lets Sasuke jolt off to the airport, flying off to who-knows-where till who-knows-when. But he does so with a smile on his face, because Sasuke's got rid of his training wheels and now he's just _flying_. Naruto being Naruto, however, turns to the dorm room turned hellhole and resorts to cursing the Uchiha as he is stuck cleaning the messy room alone.

-

-

Sakura is surprised when she realizes the number calling her phone is indeed Uchiha Sasuke. The man she told to not follow her, the one she left behind. The one she still loves because she's Sakura, and he's Sasuke. She contemplates whether or not to answer, but when she realizes she's shunned him too long, she quickly flips open her phone.

"...Sasuke?" She asks.

"_Sakura. You're in Snow, aren't you?" _

"What?"

Her heart skips beats. Is he looking for her?

"_Sakura, please tell me. Please tell me you're in Snow. Please. I'm begging you."_

"Well, yeah, but – "

"_What city?" _

"I told you not to find me."

And then she hangs up, but her heart is still beating erratically, because maybe, just maybe, he really does care.

-

-

Snow is surprisingly cold, Sasuke bitterly muses. He is in the capital city, Fubuki, merely guided by gut on his search for Sakura. One day since passed when he called her cell-phone and spoke with her, and even her voice over the device soothed him. Now, he knows he is calm, his monomaniac condition to find her died down to a simple goal driven by his heart and determination.

He pulls his jacket around him as the harsh snows continue. He stops in front of a large apartment complex, his onyx eyes wandering. Through the frostbitten windows he can barely see the lives of others; couples cuddling for warmth, students typing away on their laptops, adults working away or reading. In one window his eyes particularly search. The windows aren't completely frostbitten, with breath marks against the cold glass. His eyes widen when he sees a flash of pink, and he immediately runs back to the inn, forcing his frozen legs to run faster than they ever have.

He knows he has _finally _struck gold.

-

-

"Motherfu – "

Sakura angrily says, opening her window regardless of the harsh, winter breezes and the light blanket of snow falling. Her curse is stopped when she realizes that it is, _in fact, _Sasuke standing on the street, jacket pulled tightly around him, scarf and earmuffs tightly in place. Her heart beats at the cliché of it all, but she is paralyzed in place. She cannot move – she –

"Sakura," he finally says, over the loud streets.

He says her name again and again inside, and he wonders why he's never realized the satisfaction of it all. He can feel the ice around his heart melting, the doubt in his heart fading. He feels the courage he's never been able to feel, and finally, _finally, _he can tell her.

"I told you not to find me!" She finally says, hoping that this wasn't going where she _thought _it was going, where she _hoped _it was going.

"You expected me to leave you alone for so long?" Sasuke's confident, strong voice says over the loud cars of the streets. "How could you expect me to do that, Sakura? How could you ever think that I could just leave you alone? I tried – I tried, I _really _tried, because I thought that maybe, this is what you wanted. That maybe, we weren't meant for each other and I just randomly _fell. _Because I don't know what you did, but you got me to fall for you. So I had to come find you. I can't stand it anymore. Come back. Come _home._"

Her heart beats, because she knows that this is sort-of-not-really-confession. But she knows that there's something else that she needs. There's something else that has to be done.

"This is my home, Sasuke."

"No, not it's not," he says, walking closer to her window. Emerald clashes with onyx for the first time in an eternity, but now she knows there's electricity. "Your home is with me. _Me. _The person who maybe, just _maybe, _loves you and wants you to come back."

She laughs and smiles, tears falling in her eyes. Without another thought, she jumps from her second-story window, knowing that he'll catch her. And when he does catch her, he gently puts her down and immediately embraces her, breathing in her scent that he's lived without for too long. She brings her arms around him, and they're finally together.

He pulls away and smiles, and when she leans forward, he complies and slants his lips over hers. And maybe, just _maybe, _they were made for each other.

-

-

Uchiha Mikoto warmly welcomes her son home after his long terms spent away at University, but is surprised when a pretty girl stands behind him, a beautiful smile present on her lips. Mikoto smiles and offers her a hug, too, which the girl hesitantly returns.

"Well, you must be Sasuke's girlfriend," Mikoto teases.

When she smiles, Mikoto can see what her son saw in her. The girl's not _beautiful, _but she's gorgeous. She's not the typical woman to find on the streets; instead, she has bright, sincere eyes, and the most genuine smile she's ever seen.

"Haruno Sakura," the girl politely says, a tiny smile present on her lips. "Thank you for letting me stay here for the summer."

Mikoto laughs and hugs the girl once more.

"Of course, Sakura! You're always welcome here."

Sakura smiles once more, and Mikoto immediately approves. Yes, the Uchiha matriarch thinks, her grandchildren will most _definitely _be beautiful, genuine, and sincere.

And when Mikoto spies on them through the kitchen window as she prepares their lunch, she is glad that Haruno Sakura is the one Sasuke ultimately picked. Because in her son's eyes, she can see happiness, purpose, and a playful side that Mikoto hasn't seen since his childhood years. They are in the pool, and they are both splashing each other with water, laughing without a care in the world. And then she sees the two share a quick, chaste kiss, before Sakura pulls Sasuke's closer to her, cuddling with him and laughing when he makes a face but returns the embrace. Mikoto smiles at their moment, because Sakura has unraveled Sasuke, taken his chains off and flew with him.

-

-

"I love you, Sasuke," Sakura says, cuddling beside him on the couch.

And he knows that – not maybe, not maybe, just _maybe _– he really loves her, too.

-

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_So, I don't know how much I like this one compared to my other fanfics. XD  
__I might actually write a songfic using the entire song "Two Weeks In Hawaii" by Hellogoodbye, but at this point, I'm not really sure. (:__  
Also, if anyone randomly wants me to write something, just drop in a message or review to let me know. I'll be happy to.  
Thanks for reading, guys! (:_


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